Gods

Stiff and sore

Feeling very stiff and sore today after last night’s fun and games. Never mind the Champions’ League nonsense tonight, this Gael still rages against the dying of the sporting light and was playing handball in Armagh last night. It was the Division Four play-offs between my club, Clann Éireann in Lurgan and Armagh’s own Eugene Quinn. It was a mixed night for us. I won both my games against some hard-hitting, talented 20 something and was delighted that despite being 20 years older than him, I could still cut it with the young cubs. (As my team mates say of me: “You used to be good.”)

However, to cut a long story short, Eugene Quinn’s chinned us fair and square and took the Division Four league title. That said, we did win the divisional championship knock-out a couple of weeks ago. Honours shared then between the two Armagh clubs and, hopefully, if the authorities see fit, we will both be in action in Division Three next year.

Handball is the best game on the planet bar none. It is a game that, unfortunately, is not as well developed as it should be and there are signs that it is falling back in some places. Certainly, the traditional 60x30 game is dying on its feet and many GAA clubs do not think to provide an indoor 40x20 court when they are developing new sporting complexes. There are exceptions, of course, and in this regard, hats off to Tyrone for all the work they have done in building courts and coaching youth. They are the power-house in Ulster at the moment.

Regrettably, the same cannot be said of many other counties. There are only two 40x20 courts in Armagh in use and not a single 60x30. That said, Clann Éireann Handball Club are making great efforts to coach youngsters and our chairman, Conor McMahon and his many assistants, have many young boys and girls in training. Charly Shanks is the club’s most successful senior and a great credit to himself and the colours. Eugene Quinn also have many young players coming through and I must mention too Down’s Saville who have two wonderful courts and the most picturesque setting for a GAA club I have ever seen.

The wonderful thing about handball is that it is a game that you can continue to play for as long as you want. I may well be in the Master's age bracket now (40 plus) but I can still get plenty of games, a bit of company and a break from the computer. However, the game needs more courts if it is to develop. In all the talk about the Maze being developed as a site for soccer/rugby/Gaelic football and hurling, no one has talked about that other GAA sport – and its only international one – handball. If – and it seems to be a big if – the Maze is developed, could the relevant authorities also insist that a number of handball courts be included in the development? The game is played here, in the US and in Canada and there is no reason – with the proper facilities – that the world championships could not be played in Ulster.

Finally, if you don’t play, or used to play but gave up, get back to the court. Handball needs you! You really will feel the better for it. Honestly, the stiffness and soreness will pass.

‘No chance’

Brian Feeney writes about the Arab-Israeli conflict in today’s Irish News. He believes there is no chance that the Palestinians will get fair treatment from Israel or indeed the United States. For Feeney, Israel is “a projection of American power in the Middle East” and a country that is sustained by US money and which is vital to US foreign policy:

“That’s why President Bush visited Israel last week to celebrate its 60th birthday with speeches of typical ignorance that were, even after eight years of them, still astonishing. So there is no chance of ‘enlightened self-interest’ on the part of the US. No chance the Palestinians will get a fair crack of the whip. Only time will end the suffering. American policy will change and there are signs that it is happening, though not while this repellent administration remains.

“In the end, as former French foreign minister Dominique de Villepin, said, Israel is “ parenthesis in history”. When US policy does change Israel will cease to be a Jewish state. You can’t have a religion owning a state. It will become a binational state of Israelis and Palestinians and maybe then will have something to learn from Norn Iron – if it sill exists.”

Walter Ellis in the Belfast Telegraph does not believe that Bush’s Israeli peace initiative will succeed. He writes that “the problem is that America likes to present itself as a honest broker, while being 95% - no, make that 99% - on the side of Israel. The Arabs know this. More to the point, they also know that for the first time in a long while, the US is weak and indecisive and is no longer the sole determining factor in what’s going on.

“Washington needs to waken up to this fact and get its act together before it’s too late. But don’t hold your breath. What is much more likely to happen is that the Bush-Rice peace bid will fade away to nothing, like autumn leaves, leaving the next occupant of the Oval Office to deal not only with Iraq and Afghanistan, but a revivialist Arab World and a truculent Israel.”

They are very bleak assessments for Palestinians’ future and peace but one with which most people would agree.

‘Let There Be No Wall’

The programme for the 21st John Hewitt International Summer School is now available. This year’s theme is “Let There Be No Wall” and the school will run in the Market Place Theatre, Armagh, between Monday 28th July until Friday 1st August, 2008.

There is the usual mix of politics, literature, music and debate. Literary participants include writers and poets Seamus Heaney, Andrew O’Hagan, Glenn Patterson, Hugo Hamilton and Maureen Boyle. On the political side, former Senator Maurice Hayes and journalist Conor O’Clery will be giving talks. There are two panels: one including Bernadette McAliskey, Paul Bew and Eamonn McCann (chaired by journalist Malachi O’Doherty) will consider “Reflections on 1968” while a second (chaired by poet Anne Marie Fyfe) will debate literary matters and will include writers Lisa Appignanesi and Imtiaz Dharker. Apart from that, comedian Kevin McAleer will host an evening, there will be an exhibition of artwork by artists from Armagh, book launch and music nightly.

Full contact details and programme are available at http://www.johnhewittsociety.org/

Caitríona Ruane, The Tin Foil Lady- Out Of The Frying Pan, Into The Fire

This week's announcement by Education Minister Caitríona Ruane that she would be bringing forward new plans for secondary transfer which included an element of examination was interpreted in one of two ways: as a climbdown in an attempt to win support from the other parties, or a climbdown because she realised she couldn't follow through on her "exciting" plans to abolish the eleven plus.

It's quite clear that Ruane is crumpling under the pressure- she doesn't know where she's going and has given no indication of what her plans are. If Margaret Thatcher was the Iron Lady known for not turning, then it's becoming apparent that Caitríona Ruane is the Tin Foil Lady. After all, her plans are shapeless and amorphous, lightweight, crumple under any pressure and are easily torn apart.

And if today's Executive meeting was aimed at building bridges and finding consensus on the way foward, then unfortunately for the Sinn Féin Minister, things went badly wrong.

Lacking in confidence at the ability of the Minister to deal with the issue alone, Michael McGimpsey proposed that a sub-Committee take on a major role in looking at the transfer procedure. This was supported by the DUP. It was rejected by Sinn Féin.

Margaret Ritchie proposed that they start with a clean sheet and look at the issue from scratch. This was supported by the DUP. It was rejected by Sinn Féin.

In somewhat of a reflection of Sinn Féin's current single-figure percentage support level in the Republic, the provisional movement is very much themselves alone on the issue of educational reform in the north.

One half of the Chuckle Brothers routine, Ian Paisley, a man not given to criticism of Sinn Féin in the past year, has described their position as "entirely unacceptable."

For a party which majors on strategy, Sinn Féin are making a mighty mess of this one. And it's the children of the north who are losing out.

Oh well, Margaret Ritchie's ascention to the South Down Westminster seat continues to grow from a position of likelihood to certainty as each day passes. Keep it going Caitríona!

Abstentionism or absenteeism?

Abstentionism in the past worked very well for Sinn Féin; it provided a brilliant change of approach after the December 1918 elections which consigned the tired Irish Parliamentary, rather unfairly in some respects, to the dustbin of post-1916 20th century Irish history. The unilateral declaration of independence and the setting up of a separatist assembly which soon became the legitimate parliament of the Irish people, the First Dáil, was a great success. That was then; how about now?

Nowadays there is no alternative revolutionary assembly; just the Stormont Assembly in which Sinn Féin MLAs sit. This acceptance of British rule in Ireland marked a belated turnaround from the traditional SF policy of 'kill loads of people and ruin the economy' in order to somehow force the British from Ireland by rendering the 6 counties ungovernable. Given that the Stormont Assembly has been given its devolved powers from Westminster and that all primary NI legislation still must go through the Westminster Parliament, Sinn Féin's abstentionism in London is akin to taking seats on a subcommittee but refusing to sit on the committee itself.

Another element to this debate, and one just as important, is practical political reality. Progressive nationalism has, in recent years, gone from strength to strength in a UK context. Alex Salmond's SNP have enacted social democratic policies in Scotland to make the English green with envy and public satisfaction is running high (even if support for their raison d'être of independence is not). Salmond predicts great gains in the next Westminster election and, with anti-Toryism ingrained in the Scottish political culture and dissatisfaction with Brown's beleaguered government, there are few real reasons not to believe him. In Wales at the last Welsh Assembly election, the centre-left Plaid Cymru achieved 22.4% of the popular vote which translated into a net gain of 3 seats. Voters' anger at Brown may damage Rhodri Morgan's Welsh Labour Party and Plaid could also see their MP count rise. Together with the SDLP these parties form a centre-left nationalist coalition. In the event of a hung Parliament or, god forbid, a return to power by the Conservative & Unionist Party under messrs Cameron and Osborne, Sinn Féin's 5 MPs could add to the vaguely leftish nationalist bloc in wringing out concessions (much like the IPP did with the Liberals over the Peoples' Budget of 1909). Concerns are even more pressing with Peter Robinson signalling that the DUP will work more with the Tories and may vote with Labour on the issue of 42-days detention without charge (those Unionists do love a good bit of internment). Those 5 votes could be vital too over the vote on the 10p tax band as the SDLP and DUP have already promised to vote against the government.

So, with possible political leverage for nationalists to exploit and the ideological explanation for abstentionism redundant, will SF earn their expenses by actually voting or will Marty and co. just ride around in their ministerial cars and attend a 'partitionist assembly' while pretending they still oppose British rule in Ireland? Now that they have de facto taken the Oath of Allegiance through their actions will they take it de jure through their words? Like it or not, many issues are still the preserve of Westminster so sometimes it is better to hold your nose and fight for representation and an influence on some areas that affect the day-to-day lives of people in the North of Ireland than to spout 70s Provo gibberish to the faithful while holding hands with Big Ian under the table.

Cowen's day

Watching events in the Dáil on Wednesday was certainly uplifting. If there is one thing that Leinster House can do it is pageant and yesterday was that – a new Taoiseach in the form of Fianna Fáil’s Brian Cowen and a new cabinet. Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny spoke excellently and hit just the right note in his comments but it was Brian Cowen’s day and he more than matched Kenny in his own speech. Kenny was pitch perfect but Cowen was magisterial. Fianna Fáil have certainly got a leader who knows what he is about; his party have never looked so coherent and focused and the cabinet reshuffle was done with a minimum of fuss and blood-letting.

It is hard to credit that it is only a few short years ago that Charles Haughey cast such a long shadow over everything to do with the Soldiers of Destiny. The Reynolds/Ahern years have steadied the ship and it certainly seems that Cowen will put even more green water between himself and those events. It was interesting too to see Cowen (accompanied by his family) receive his seal of office from the President, Mary McAleese – an early example of Fianna Fáil’s northward march!

Which brings us handily enough to the North and changing attitudes. Anecdote is not the most reliable measure of opinion but there are times when I still cannot get my head around the (welcome!) difference in Fianna Fáil’s attitude to the North. Many nationalists still bitterly recall that Fianna Fáil did stand “idly by” when nationalists were subjected to sectarian pogroms in the early days of the Troubles. My own recollection of Fianna Fáil disinterest in the North is more recent. A few years after the Hunger Strikes, I was working in a summer college in the Donegal Gaeltacht when one of my colleagues – a loyal FF member – started berating me in her lovely Irish about the North. She wanted nothing to do with us and our problems. The irony was that she was from Dundalk but her partitionist attitude was frightening. Now her party intends to stand candidates in the North. It is some turn around. I wonder what she makes of it?

Get over to O'Conall Street

Conall McDevitt has an article on the future of the SDLP on his site. He defends the party's record, admits to some organisational weakness and makes a strong and passionate case for not joining up with Fianna Fáil. I am not going to quote from it. Get yourself over to www.oconallstreet.com where you can read the lot and give Conall some feed back.

Adios Bertie

Bertie Ahern has handed in his notice to the President. And so comes to an end an era. Apart from Gerry Adams, who has effectively departed anyway, Bertie Ahern was the last of the Good Friday Agreement leaders to leave. He follows in the footsteps of Hume, Trimble and Blair.

Of course, now begins a new era in Irish politics, north and south. Peter Robinson is to take over at the helm of the DUP and we already have Gordon Brown installed as British Prime Minister. The recent problems for the latter will undoubtedly raise questions about whether his two counterparts in Ireland will have similar problems following in the footsteps of such high-profile predecessors. It will be a while yet before we know, with no elections on either side of the border scheduled until next year. In the meantime, we can sit back and watch how things develop.

Republican Commonwealth

Irish News columnist, Roy Garland, has argued that it is time for the Republic to rejoin the Commonwealth: "This would add to the message that old animosities are being forgotten and the Republic is becoming a place where different traditions and identities meet and mingle in peace, safety and equality."

Garland writes that "reconciliation cannot mean the end of differences. That would be absorption whereas reconciliation entails acceptance of differences making them less divisive. Those nationalists who violently reject anything other than a 32 county mono-cultural Irish state hostile to Britain plainly do not seek reconciliation. But re-entering the Commonwealth does not mean a return to subservience but new relationships as envisaged in the Anglo-Irish Agreement, Good Friday Agreement, St Andrews’ and the British Irish Council. It could encourage a new version of an ancient vision by which Irish people contribute to a better world.

"Republicans feared British imperialism but many unionists feared a kind of religious Catholic imperialism. Catholic doctrines were enshrined in the Irish Constitution. The sale of contraceptives was declared illegal while divorce was unconstitutional. Claims on the territory of the six counties were experienced as threatening and imperialistic. While most imperialism has positive and negative aspects we tend to emphasise the positive in our own and the negative in other people’s imperialism. Protestants believed the Catholic Church kept their people in ignorance while Irish nationalists believed the British kept the Irish people in slavery.

"Despite changes, some unionists still regard the Republic as a threatening alien state. Some have never crossed into the south just as some southerners have never seen the black north...

"Today I see the Irish Republic in a different light even though aspects of that state, including the preamble to the constitution, overtly exclude people like me whose ancestors might have been Irish patriots but probably never Irish nationalists. Yet I no longer feel alienated from the “grey skies of an Irish Republic” and can feel at home in either jurisdiction. Further dialogue, experience and actions are necessary to remove the remaining barriers. If the south was to re-enter the Commonwealth, the log-jam might be broken, hurts might heal more quickly and new relationships grow more strongly.

"The modern international, multi-cultural Commonwealth consisting of 53 independent states, many of which are republics, exists to serve common interests and promote international understanding and peace. It represents thirty per cent of the world’s population and includes a very broad range of faiths, cultures and traditions. Irish people have many ties with the Commonwealth and re-joining would give expression to relationships that already exist. It might free unionists from the shackles of siege mentality that almost denies their Irish heritage. But their deep attachment to Britain and the Ulster Scots heritage need not and cannot be bartered to enable them to appreciate their Irish inheritance as well."

It is not the first time such an idea has been mooted. If memory serves me correctly Gaeltacht minister and Dev's grandson, Éamon Ó Cuív, also suggested the same some years ago. Would the Republic joining the Commonwealth threaten the Republic's independence; would it appeal to unionists; would many nationalists be in favour and would it bring any concrete benefits?

Eight-Hundredth Post!

It's been some going. Let's hope the quality has matched the quantity! Onwards and upwards...

Work in translation

Following on from last week’s post on Arab-Israeli literature, I noticed in this morning’s The Independent, that there is now a website dedicated to fiction in translation: www.translatedfiction.org.uk (They certainly won’t be winning any prizes for imaginative titles with that!) That said, I have had a quick look at the site and it does provide much information: recommended reads; forthcoming books; news and opinion pieces from translators. The site is also looking for extracts from translations. All of great interest to this Irish speaker. After all, if one must read in English at all, why not make it a work of translation?

Talking of the Web, for those of you wanting to brush up on your Irish, the Dublin-based language and teaching company, Gaelchultúr, have launched a new on-line service, cúrsa cruinnis, to help improve and enrich your Irish. It is the only on-line service of its type and there is a companion volume, Gramadach gan Stró!, to accompany the course for those of you who like printed matter in front of them when studying languages. You go on to line and register and then follow the various lesson plans. The director/stiúrthóir of Gaelchultúr, Éamonn Ó Dónaill, says that this service is just the start and the company hope to have six different courses on line in the next year and a half. See www.gaelchultur.com or www.ranganna.com for more information on cúrsa cruinnis and the book.

Faoi dheireadh, tá mé i ndiaidh léirmheas a scríobh ar leabhar nua Sheáin Mhic Mhathúna, Hula Hul (Leabhar Breac, €15), don iris Idirlín, Beo! (www.beo.ie). Ba cheart go mbeadh an t-eagrán nua agus an léirmheas ar líne go luath. Molaim an leabhar go mór agus má tá tú ar lorg ábhar léitheoireachta thar an deireadh seachtaine fada seo, gabh amach agus ceannaigh é. Ní bheidh lá aiféaltais ort; saothar den scoth atá ann.

All-Ireland talks

Two reports on the SDLP and possible mergers in today’s papers. Mark Hennessy writes in the Irish Times that the SDLP will seek talks with Fianna Fáil, Labour and Fine Gael in the next week “to discuss future all-Ireland options, including a merger with another party”. SDLP leader Mark Durkan is quoted as saying that the party is “exploring all options” and that the final decision will be up to party members. Hennessy thinks that the decision “to make formal approaches to Fine Gael and Labour will be read, in some quarters, as a bid to strengthen their negotiating hand with Fianna Fáil – though many SDLP supporters are sharply opposed to any alliance with the latter”.

Meanwhile in the Irish News, Denis Bradley writes that Fianna Fáil will come North – even without the SDLP’s blessing. He gives a very good run-down on Fianna Fáil’s vision of itself as an all-Ireland movement and an analysis of what motivates the party faithful. Bradley writes that Fianna Fáil’s new leader, Brian Cowen, is “a pragmatic politician who has little tolerance for those who want to wrap the green flag round them at night and lie sin bed all day. His preference will be for an accommodation with the SDLP. However, if the SDLP proves too difficult, Fianna Fáil will continue its move north, perhaps at a slower pace. That will happen because Fianna Fáil and Brian Cowen don’t believe that the SDLP, and more especially Sinn Féin are fit for purpose when it comes to unifying the country. They believe that the ability and competence lies only in Fianna Fáil and coupled with that they believe it is their destiny.”

Meanwhile, on a more practical all-Ireland front, the SDLP in West Belfast will be hosting an event “The Future of Social Justice in A New Ireland” at 7.30pm on Thursday 15th May 2008, in the Westbury Room, Balmoral Hotel, Blacks Road, Belfast. The speakers will include Alex Attwood MLA (SDLP); Martin Mansergh TD (FF); Fergus O’Dowd TD (FG) and Ruairí Quinn TD (Labour). More details are available from Tim Attwood at 078-02 279939 or attwoodt [a] belfastcity.gov.uk

Finally, let me acknowledge (belatedly) the most important all-Ireland event of the last week – Derry’s victory over Kerry in the Division One National League Final. It is always a good day for the nation when the Kingdom lose on the football field and an even better one when that defeat is inflicted by an Ulster team. Maith sibh, a Dhoire! Let us hope too that it is a good omen for the coming summer campaign and that an Ulster team will be lifting Sam this September.

IMC Backs Quinns' Analysis

The Independent Monitoring Commission has backed the assertion made the family of murdered Cullyhanna man Paul Quinn that provos were involved. The monitoring body today stated: "Amongst those involved were people who had in various ways been associated with the PIRA at a local level, including as members of the organisation."

There could be no clearer signal that those people from the area known as provos were behind the killing.

The IMC further backed the Quinn's analysis that these provos still think they run south Armagh, despite their bosses in Belfast telling them otherwise. The IMC described how these thugs hold the young people, and many others, of the area to ransom: "Some of these people were accustomed over a substantial period of time to exercising considerable local influence, collectively and individually. This would have led such people to expect what they would consider as appropriate respect from others and to being able to undertake their activities-
including criminal ones- without interference; they would find it very difficult to accept any waning in this influence and respect."

So there you have it in black and white- south Armagh provos and their scumbag sidekicks who still think they run the show murdered Paul Quinn.

There have been some bizarre assertions from some quarters, including from the British Broadcasting Corporation, that the IMC exonerated PIRA members from involvement in the killing. Let's be quite clear- it didn't.

What the IMC did say was that the provo leadership did not sanction the murder. However, no one ever claimed that they did. Today's report stated: "The killing was clearly contrary to the instructions and strategy of the leadership of PIRA. It was also contrary to the interests of PIRA and to those of Sinn Féin. We are aware of no evidence linking the leadership of PIRA to the incident."

That's what everyone has stated was the case since day one. That is why the Quinn family said that they didn't want the killing to affect the operation of the Assembly, as they recognised that the murder machine was cranked into action at a local rather than a central level. This is hardly breaking news.

The view that local provos, worryingly, carried out this killing contrary to the wishes of the provo 'army council' is reinforced by the IMC's assessment that: "the involvement of local members or former members or associates of the organisation in the way we have described is bound to raise questions about the level of control exercised by the leadership of PIRA. The PIRA leadership has had some difficulties in the past in exercising authority in South Armagh. Looking more widely in Ireland North and South we do not find evidence to suggest that this recent rejection of instructions is a general problem."

In other words, most elements within the PIRA are doing what they are told, but there are some in south Armagh who do their own thing- they are rejecting instructions.

People who are not in the PIRA cannot reject operational instruction from the 'army council' of the PIRA.

This is disturbing, and further highlights why the Quinn Support Group's campaign for a true peace in south Armagh is so important.

In some ways the IMC report is nothing new- the Quinns said that local elements within the PIRA had murdered Paul as they still think that they run the place. They always said that the central leadership of the organisation had not sanctioned it. The IMC has simply confirmed this.

However, the IMC report also confirms that the provos' 'army council' have no control over their personnel in south Armagh- there is no reason to suggest that they will not 'reject instructions' in future, as they have done in the past and as they did when they decided to slaughter Paul Quinn in the most brutal way possible, which may see some other young person facing a gruesome death.

Pressure must be maintained to ensure that the brutal provo infrastructure in south Armagh is dismantled once and for all.

Civil Rights Forty Years On

To mark the fortieth anniversary of the formation of the civil rights movement in the north, a series of events has been planned. I was lucky enough to get an invitation to the launch a few weeks back in the Linenhall Library in Belfast. The presence of such dignitaries as John Hume, Ivan Cooper and Austin Currie acted as a reminder of the calibre of social leaders that this part of the world had at the time.

A few nights ago, I was able to make it over to Queen's Students' Union for a talk by Eamon Phoenix and Henry Patterson and chaired by Denis Haughey, which formed part of the commemorations. Eamon gave an insight into the situation in which the civil rights movement was born. In an abandonment of democracy that ought to have embarrassed the leaders of any right-thinking society, people of all backgrounds were drawn together to oppose the outright sectarian viciousness of the official unionist regime. Henry gave an interesting insight into his own experiences in the movement, and spoke of the various aspects and intricacies of how it was run.

Today, at a time when people take their right to vote for granted and for the most part have access to decent housing which is allocated on the basis of need rather than religion or political connection, it is vital to remember how far we have come and to celebrate the work of those who got us to this point.

Further events are planned for the rest of the year, including:

MAY 2008
Civil Rights seminar “The role of women in civil rights”
Venue: East Tyrone College, DungannonDate: Tbc This seminar will pay tribute to the role and work of women in the civil rights movement from the Homeless Citizens League in Dungannon, the Campaign for Social Justice and the women of Springtown Camp in Derry in the mid 1960s, to the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association, the Derry Citizens Action Committee and the Peoples Democracy in 1968.

JUNE 2008 - Caledon Squatting Protest
i. Civil Rights Conference “Housing – 40 years on.”Venue: Armagh City Hotel Date: Saturday 21 June 2008To commemorate the Caledon Squatting protest about discrimination in the allocation of housing in a house in Caledon, County Tyrone, a major housing Conference will be held in Armagh on 21st June to highlight the need for social and affordable housing. Speakers: Austin Currie; Representative from Gildernew Family, Duncan Morrow, CRC; Fr Peter McVerry, worker with homeless young people in Dublin; Professor Paddy Hillyard, Chair of Sociology QUB; Tom Arnold, Chief Executive, Concern; Niall Mellon or Paddy McGuinness, Niall Mellon Township Trust and DSD Minister Margaret Ritchie.

ii Joint British Association of Irish Studies and Civil Rights 1968 Commemoration Committee seminar at Westminster on role of Campaign for Democracy and origin of the Troubles

AUGUST 2008 - Coalisland to Dungannon MarchThe McCluskey Civil Rights Summer School Theme: “40 years on – The Civil Rights Challenges in Ireland Today”Tackling Poverty, Racism and InequalityIn honour of Dr Con and Patricia McCluskey, from the Campaign for Social Justice, the inaugural Civil Rights Summer School will be held between 23-25 August 2008 and will include a series of lectures and discussions on civil rights and social justice in Ireland and internationally.The keynote speaker will be former President Mary Robinson.

SEPTEMBER 2008
Civil Rights Seminar in Liberty Hall Dublin Theme: “Ireland - an equal society for all”Speakers will include Michael Farrell, Austin Currie, Michael Halpenny SIPTU and Des Geraghty, former President of ICTU and Chair of the Affordable Homes Partnership.

OCTOBER 2008 - Duke Street Derry MarchAn International Civil Rights Conference will be held in the Guildhall in Derry on 4 October 2008. Major international speakers have been invited.John Kennedy Lecture in Irish Studies at University of Liverpool by Dr Kevin McNamara on 8 October 2008 – “Perhaps it will all go away – An examination of the British Response to the Civil Rights movement in Northern Ireland.”

NOVEMBER 2008 - Largest Civil Rights March in Derry
A concert commemorating civil rights is planned for Derry- Details TBC
University of Liverpool Lecture by Austin Currie on 26th November 2008- “The Civil Rights Revolution.”

DECEMBER 2008 Seminar: “Civil Rights then and now, 1968-2008. Building a new, inclusive society”. The purpose of this seminar is to engage in a cross community dialogue with those who did not support the Civil Rights movement. Details Tbc

JANUARY 2009 - Burntollet March- The Committee is considering co-sponsoring a legal seminar on protecting human rights in the new Northern Ireland and the whole island of Ireland to mark the role of the student-led Peoples Democracy in the Civil Rights campaign.

A site for the commemorations has been set up at http://www.civilrights1968.com/. The above pic of the Queen's event is courtesy of the Amnesty International blog.